Southwater A were imperious in winning the Horsham Primary Schools Year 4 Open Football Cup tonight on the Tanbridge astroturf. They moved the ball around the pitch like a grandmaster moves chess pieces around a board to outwit their opponent.
In the group stage Southwater A won all their games, scored 17 and did not concede. In the final they met a Heron Way side that had emerged top from a much tighter Group B, superior goal-difference seeing them through against a strong Leechpool A team. Indeed Leechpool A beat the Herons 2-0 but only after they themselves went down 2-0 to third placed Southwater B.
The final was effectively decided by half-time as the Southies scored five goals in rapid succession. A lot of credit to Heron Way however for fighting out the second half in spirited fashion to hold the score to 5-0 by the final whistle.
For third spot Leechpool A recovered from a tricky start to beat Castlewood 7-2. Whilst Castlewood had some of the smallest players in the tournament they were notable for some of the strongest tackling.
Arunside and Southwater B met for the fifth place play-off and a single goal decided it in favour of the latter. Plaistow and Kirdford edged out Leechpool’s B team in similar fashion and for ninth St Mary’s Horsham beat Kingslea 2-0.
Well done to all children involved for a great night of football.
Results
| PITCH 1 | PITCH 2 | PITCH 3 | PITCH 4 |
| PHASE 1 – Groups | |||
| GROUP A | GROUP B | ||
4.08-4.21 | Leechpool B v Southwater 0 6 | Arunside v Kingslea 1 0 | Heron Way v St Mary’s, Horsham 2 0 | Plaist/Kird v Leechpool A 0 1 |
4.24-4.37 | Castlewood v Leechpool B 0 0 | Southwater A v Arunside 5 0 | Southwater B v Heron Way 0 1 | St Mary’s, Horsham v Plaist/Kird 1 1 |
4.40-4.53 | Kingslea v Castlewood 0 1 | Leechpool B v Arunside 0 1 | Leechpool A v Southwater B 0 2 | Heron Way v Plaist/Kird 9 0 |
4.56-5.09 | Southwater A v Castlewood 4 0 | Leechpool B v Kingslea 0 0 | St Mary’s, Horsham v South B 0 1 | Heron Way v Leechpool A 0 2 |
5.12-5.25 | Southwater A v Kingslea 2 0 GROUP POSITIONS 1st Southwater 20pts 2nd Castlewood 14 3rd Arunside 13 4th Leechpool B 8 5th Kingslea 6 | Arunside v Castlewood 1 2 | St Mary’s, Hm v Leechpool A 0 5 GROUP POSITIONS 1st Heron Way 16 (+10) 2nd Leechpool A 16 (+6) 3rd Southwater B 14 4th Plaistow/Kirdford 8 5th St Mary’s Horsham 6 | Plaist/Kird v Southwater B 1 1 |
| PHASE 2 – Play-offs | |||
5.30-5.52 | Winners Groups A + B Southwater A v Heron Way 5 0 | Runners-up Groups A + B Castlewood v Leechpool A 2 7 | Thirds Groups A + B Arunside v Southwater B 0 1 | 5.30-5.40pm 4ths Groups A + B Leechpool B V Plaistow/Kirdford 0 1 5.42-5.52pm 5ths Groups A + B Kingslea v St Mary’s, Horsham 0 2 |